AN: This is what happens when I have to sit through chemistry. Crossover to Eureka, because Zoe is awesome. English is not my first language, so sorry for mistakes.


Zoe Carter just wanted a normal life when she moved to New York.

It was not that she didn't love her family (she did. Absolutely) or that she didn't enjoy being in Eureka (how can you not love a place where you get everything, really everything, in a small cafe?) but she wanted normalcy, even if it was only for a short period of time.

She had never really been a normal girl. Well, maybe when she was really little, but then her grandma died. And her father spent more and more time at work. And her parents got divorced. And Zoe, well Zoe had started rebelling against everybody and everything. Than she and her dad had moved to Eureka and ... yeah. She now really wanted a bit normalcy.

That didn't mean she didn't daily call her father. Most days she also spoke with Allison and Kevin, and she always loved it when she got to listen to Jenna telling her about her day. Zoe and Kevin had long ago decided to drop the "step" and just be siblings and with Jenna it honestly never been a question. And now that the twins, two beautiful identical baby girls named Sophie and Claire, were born, Zoe wished she lived closer to home. But she also loved living in New York so she stayed and visited as often as possible.

When the Alien invasion mess had happened, Zoe had been in the hospital were she got an internship, It had been strange. About everybody arround her had panicked, but Zoe was the daughter of the sheriff of Eureka. She had stood up, taken the lead and commanded all the medics the hospital had to offer. She had had the interns prepare the hospital for the flood of injured people she knew would come and told everyone else to go on with their jobs. Everybody, including the chief, had looked at her in awe and followed her orders. Then, there had been a tense moment when one of those alien monster things (they looked like right out of some Hollywood horror movies, really) had gotten in. Zoe hadn't thought but moved. She distracted it with the fire extinguisher before shooting it with it's own weapon. The people around her had stared at her like she was some kind of hero but she had ignored it. There had been more pressing matters to think of.

When she had gotten home a day later, extremely exhausted but satisfied it worked out so well, she had been greeted by her father waiting for her. He had seen it in the News and had driven to New York immediately. She had fallen into his arms and then asleep, about two minutes later. A week later, when things at the hospital had been almost normal again, her father had taken her home for a much needed two weeks vacation. As she got back, a guy in a black suit that seemed to scream "top secret agency" had visited her and offered her a job. Zoe had declined. She wasn't going to work for some shady spy organisation.

Now, six month later, she was sitting in a cafe in a street that hadn't been destroyed. She loved this cafe, always had, because it reminded her of Vince's, at least a bit. Today it was really crowded, she noticed while sipping on her coffee. A blonde man walked towards her.

"Hey, is this seat taken? There is no free table in the whole cafe." He asked.

"No, sit down. It's really full in here today." Zoe answered.

"Yeah I noticed." He smiled, than frowned. "I know this sounds like a stupid pick-up line, but have we met before? I could swear I know your face." The question seemed genuine, what kind of suprised Zoe.

"You're right, it does sound like a pick-up line. To answer your question: I don't know. I work in the hospital in the fourth, so maybe you've been there? Or ... I come here quite often."

"Yeah, that's it. I come here almost everyday. I really like the atmosphere." He said.

"Yes, me too. And the coffee is really good here." Zoe replied smiling. A bit flirting couldn't hurt, could it?

"That's true. So you work in a hospital?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm an intern. I want to become a peds surgeon, that means I want to work with children." She explained.

"Wow, that's nice. But isn't it kind of depressing to see children hurt?"

"Yes it is. But it feels so good to see when they are getting better, you know. Also, I really like working with children." Zoe still smiled and asked:

"What about you? Where do you work?"

"I ... I work in security." He said.

"You sound like a spy from a crappy movie." Zoe joked.

"Probably." He smiled. A really charming smile. "My name is Steve Rodgers."

"Zoe Carter."

"Nice to meet you, Zoe Carter."

"The pleasure is all mine, Steve Rodgers." They shook hands, smiling and ... in exactly that moment Zoe's pager buzzed. She looked at it and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Steve. It looks like one of my patients decided to leave the hospital and I have to explain to him again that this is no good idea. I have to go."

Steve stood up.

"It was really nice talking to you, Zoe. Are you going to be here tomorrow."

"Most probably. What about you?"

"Definitively. Hopefully we meet." He said smiling.

Zoe nearly ran out of the cafe, trying not to think of Steve. It meant nothing that they had just said they'd meet again. Even if they met tomorrow, it wasn't a date. Or was it?


AN: That's it for now. If anyone wants to read this story, I could be convinced to write on, otherwise it stays a one-shot.